Mr. Till

ET and Emmett Till. Alienation and alienation. These themes will be central to Pope.L’s performance in March. Ever since our presentation on Wednesday, I’ve been thinking about the ability of images to connect us with a historic moment. Few pictures are more potent than the horrifying image of Emmett’s brutalized face. The now famous photograph galvanized an entire nation to act in outrage at the atrocities of first Emmett’s death and then his murderer’s acquittal. Time magazine recently ran an article showing a series of images depicting the civil rights movement, culminating in the election of Barack Obama. The first image of this series was a smiling picture of a Emmett Till. The narrative of images spanning Till’s own story—from innocence to transformed mutilation and death—carry enormous symbolic weight. They remind us both of the successes of the civil rights movement, as well as the sordid history from which our country is still recovering.

Our project with Pope.L has led me to confront these images almost daily this past week. I have been looking at them much more often than I find comfortable or easy. With each encounter, I feel that my relationship to the pictures, and to the boy, changes a little bit. When I first looked at the images of his beaten face, I would feel a sharp reaction in my stomach. I saw only the collapsed bones and swollen features. Revisiting the pictures, my reaction changes. While they are still uncomfortable to view, I have begun to see Emmett much more often in them. I wonder what the moments before his kidnapping, and during his torture must have been like. These, too, are disturbing thoughts, yet I believe they reveal Emmett’s humanity in ways that the iconic pictures of his body cannot. Emmett lived and breathed, and in his humanity he was both more and less than the boy that is preserved in these images.

Here are two images of the Bryant corner store. On this location, Emmett interacted with Caroline Bryant. By some accounts he whistled at her, by some he grabbed her waist and asked her to go with him on a date. This incident prompted Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam to take, beat, and kill Emmett. The first image was taken in the year of the murder. The second is from the present day.

And finally, one small sign of Till’s enduring legacy—Emmett Till Memorial Highway.

15 responses

Looking back on how it was back then and how

Wanda Rankins| April 1, 2009

Looking back on how it was back then and how African Americans were treated makes me grateful that I’m fortunate enough to have the many freedoms that I have today. I feel that whoever did that to him should have been hunted down and punished. He didn’t do anything wrong. What harm is it to whistle at someone? He didn’t commit a crime! He was only fourteen years old when they lynched him, and he did not deserve what they did to him. Prejudice isn’t worth a life.

It was wrong what he did, but what 14 yr

Malconra Rudderson| May 9, 2009

It was wrong what he did, but what 14 yr old boy wouldn’t? NO ONE deserves to die from it though, maybe get grounded or something along those lines, but to be killed the way that he was… just unessacary.
Prejudice is not something that anyone should have to die for. It was cowardly what those men did to him, to take a 14 yr old BOY -not man- from his family and kill him just makes me sick. The things they did to him before they killed him are just awfull.
god bless Emmett Till’s soul for what he went through.

Mannnn..... when i look at this, i think about my

Tashana Goodwin| May 12, 2009

Mannnn….. when i look at this, i think about my 2 brothers and wat if that happened 2 them. Thats so wrong…. imma tell u straight up and body that belongs 2 that family who beat this 14 year old black boy 2 death… ur family will be cursed 4 life. I tell u like this if i eva c u….. its on and poppn… anybody who knows da family…. cuz its wrong… wat if it wuz dey family….. children r da future,,,, wat happened 2 dat??????????????????????????

what did that to his face?

samantha| May 14, 2009

what did that to his face?

why did roy and j w bryant kill emmett till.

why did roy and jw byant kill him| May 21, 2009

why did roy and j w bryant kill emmett till. i don think that ws called for. even back in those day it didnt even need to go that fair. a whisel just a whisel can take your life lik that in a matter of day. i think that what black all across the world should be grate full that we can do what we do today, because we couldnt dont anything such as ride the bus, talk to white people disrespectfully. i am thankfull 4 all of the people including emmett till he was only 14 years of age. i cant imagin me or my family going through this, or if such a thing like what happen to emmett happing to day. i dont think anyone can take it. i just say this to emmett till mother thank you for being stronge and fighting that fight for your son. so that kids today in the 21st center can look back and say wow. and think why do i treat my family or other black this bad ay, im no less then a white person in missisippi back in the day. so god bless emmett’s mother, family and his soul by martina michelle welch im 15 years of age. if u want to write me back bout how u feel my email adderess is tinasexyback@yahoo.com talk to u latter

Upon leaving the store, Emmett allegedly whistled at Carolyn Bryant,

Black America| June 15, 2009

Upon leaving the store, Emmett allegedly whistled at Carolyn Bryant, wife of Roy Bryant, the owner of the store. At this time a black man whistling at a white woman was an unforgivable act. Three nights after this alleged act, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam woke young Emmett out of his sleep and ripped him from his bed. Several days later, Emmett’s body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River, unrecognizable, with the exception of a ring he was wearing, and a seventy-pound fan tied to his feet. The condition of Emmett’s body was horrific: he was so badly beaten that his tongue was hanging out of his mouth, one of his eyes was gouged out, his teeth were knocked out, the bridge of his nose was smashed in, and he had been shot in the head.

i pray for emmett till i hope he is in a better place. no wait i know he is in a better place.

This is sick,they are so burning and the deepest part

This is sick,they are so burning and the deepest part of hell. Who could come up with so many ways to kill a 14 year old. I mean still to this day it pisses me off. And then the whites got away with it. Im digusted, just looking at Emitt’s picture makes me want to cry. My grandmother says she went to his funeral in Chicago IL, and she said when she went up to view his body, she said she drop to the ground and cried. How sad but if white people hated black people that much why did they have brown or black items,they wore and have things that was the color black?? this is sick people write back on what you think bye im done!!!!

I don' t think it was wrong what he did

Tired of racist people| August 2, 2009

I don’ t think it was wrong what he did those were just some racist whites and it stil some that lives today. It is no way that they would get away with it these days they all know better

Still very horrible when I think about what happened to

Jasmine| November 6, 2009

Still very horrible when I think about what happened to him. It is still sad to say but even today there are still battles to be won against racism. Looking at this event makes me feel like some young people now days do not fight for what is right. There are to many things going on which we turn our backs to, it makes me feel like carrying on the legacy which people fought for blood,sweat, and tears. My grandma wasthe sae age as Emmett when he was murdered, 55 years..that wasnt that long ago. I believe that change is made when people hold onto the values and changes that those before us believed in. There are hundreds of thousands of people who were murdered before, during, even after Jim Crow. I realize how lucky we are now days but there is still work to be done. Don’t forget those who fought for truth, love, honesty, and respect. Never take ANYTHING for granted and change comes followed by action. The death of Emmett spiked the start of the Civil Right’s movement..let us not forget what battle his family and others had to face to get us this far. The rest is in God’s hands.

Still very horrible when I think about what happened to

Jasmine| November 6, 2009

Still very horrible when I think about what happened to him. It is still sad to say but even today there are still battles to be won against racism. Looking at this event makes me feel like some young people now days do not fight for what is right. There are to many things going on which we turn our backs to, it makes me feel like carrying on the legacy which people fought for blood,sweat, and tears. My grandma wasthe sae age as Emmett when he was murdered, 55 years..that wasnt that long ago. I believe that change is made when people hold onto the values and changes that those before us believed in. There are hundreds of thousands of people who were murdered before, during, even after Jim Crow. I realize how lucky we are now days but there is still work to be done. Don’t forget those who fought for truth, love, honesty, and respect. Never take ANYTHING for granted and change comes followed by action. The death of Emmett spiked the start of the Civil Right’s movement..let us not forget what battle his family and others had to face to get us this far. The rest is in God’s hands.

I'm doing a research project on Emmett Till for FLC

Alee Cole| November 20, 2009

I’m doing a research project on Emmett Till for FLC and this is a very grevious sight to see. Present day, whom ever did this would have been sent to jail for such a crime as to murder a 14 year old boy of different race. It sickens me with sadness to see that face in the casket that does not even look like the poor boys face.

Emmet Till was a young man with a whole life

Kyle Rynard| February 4, 2010

Emmet Till was a young man with a whole life ahead of him. He was visiting his grandfather in Money Mississippi when he simply whistled at a white women (as were told). But he was not lynched….. Lynching is being hung, Emmet was drug out of bed, beaten, sexually assaulted, tied to a fan, and thrown in a river. The men that committed the crime said they felt they had to kill him because Emmet would not say he was scared of them because they where white. These type of actions would make me feel ashamed to be a white man living during the civil rights movement…….

sincerely, a 17 year old high school student

What I always wonder is what if a white boy

Kaitlyn| February 14, 2010

What I always wonder is what if a white boy did that to a black woman? Would whites think that they should be beat, tortured, and murdered? This story is so sad. It is very upsetting that is happened in this GREAT country. I just don’t understand how this could happen to a BOY. It is just plain wrong….and ridiculous.

Man This Stuff Was So Wrong. Now I Really Understand

Khidd Barbieee| April 20, 2010

Man This Stuff Was So Wrong. Now I Really Understand Why My Mother Is Always Telling Me About What Blacks Went Though. But I Mean He Was Only 14 Years Old. He Didn’t Know Any Better. It Hurts Me To Look At This Because He Was My Age When He Died. And For His Mother Not To Even Know Who He Was, That Is Bad That He Got Beat That Bad.

Now looking back to this it makes me sick that

Nigern Ebony| May 1, 2010

Now looking back to this it makes me sick that a human being cuold do this to another person.
I myself have a son and if this was to happen to my child i cannot even imagine.
Growing up, kids will do stupid things but the death as punishment just leaves me speechless.
Glancing at the picture of Till’s mutilated body just brings tears to my eyes.
Emmett Till, you were a big part in the civil rights movement.
Rest in Peace.

among friends is a series of four simultaneous, collaborative workshops that team contemporary artists with Haverford students and interested members of the community.